


Confrontation and Closure

by OuthaulDagger



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:14:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26482483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OuthaulDagger/pseuds/OuthaulDagger
Summary: A series of partially connected one-shots taking place post season 5 as characters deal with unreslolved tensions.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

Adora had been distant. Glimmer wasn’t sure why, or how she didn’t notice sooner. She had realized something was wrong soon after Prime was destroyed. She supposed that everything had been really chaotic since she’d made the mistake of activating the Heart and they’d been pulled out of Despondos. Other than a few moments on the ship they hadn’t had time to talk. Since the end of the war, they hadn’t talked much either. Adora had been spending all her time with Catra, the two clinging to each other like lifelines.

“Urgh. What’s Adora’s problem right now?” Glimmer growled.

“What do you mean?” Bow asked.

“She won’t talk to me. She’s only hanging round Catra.”

“One: they just got together after years of pining and fighting each other. They’ll be busy ‘catching up’,” he explained. “Two: I can’t answer that question. You need to ask her.”

“Fine!”

***

Glimmer arrived in Adora’s room but quickly realised she’d teleported in on something far more personal than she’d expected. Adora was lying on her bed, with Catra straddling her and kissing her deeply. Her jacket was on the floor, her shirt had been pushed up above her breasts and she was in the process of unzipping Catra’s bodysuit. In fairness, Bow had warned her.

Catra pulled away to breathe, opened her eyes and locked gazes with Glimmer, who had frozen. She shrieked. Loudly. She leapt about five feet in the air; her tail bunched up and her ears may as well have been pinned to the ceiling. After a second, she calmed down, her tail and ears returning to normal. Using a flexibility which should not have been possible, she zipped up her bodysuit with ease.

Adora simply stared. “Would it have killed you to knock?” she said eventually, surprise giving way to indignation. She stood up and pulled down her shirt, hiding her bra from view once more.

Catra smirked. “Probably, given how little Sparkles here respects privacy.”

“My name isn’t Sparkles!” Glimmer spat, finding her voice.

“How about this? I’ll stop calling you Sparkles when you stop cock-blocking us.” Catra said.

Glimmer sputtered. “W-what? But neither of you have-”

“It’s a figure of speech,” Catra interrupted, rolling her eyes. “How about it, Sparkles?”

Glimmer was silent, unable to find words, for the second time in as many minutes.

“What is it Glimmer?” Adora asked, changing the subject.

“I wanted to talk to you. Alone,” Glimmer replied.

“Whatever,” Catra said. “I’ll see you later.” She kissed Adora on the cheek and strutted out of the room, tail swishing behind her.

“Well…” Adora said, breaking the awkward silence.

“Why are you avoiding me?” Glimmer asked.

“I’m not. I’ve just been busy.”

“Making out with your girlfriend,” the queen accused.

“You’ve been making out with Bow!” Adora defended.

Glimmer sighed. “Are you mad at me?”

“Honestly, a little.”

“I’m sorry about the Heart. I made a mist-” Glimmer started.

“That’s not what I’m angry about,” She-Ra explained. She took a deep breath. “You went to Shadow-Weaver. I may not have told you specifics, but you knew what she did. She abused Catra and I. And you listened to her. You trusted her. After everything she did.”

“You trusted Catra,” Glimmer pointed out.

“Really?” Adora asked, incredulous. “Shadow-Weaver made Catra. She twisted her until she damn near broke.” She paused. “And Catra makes the choice to be better every single day. Shadow-Weaver just offed herself to spite her redemption.”

“You really think she would do that?”

Adora glared at her.

“I’m sorry. I was – ” Glimmer stopped herself. “I don’t have an excuse for that one. I didn’t think of it like that. I’m sorry.

“It’s okay. I know.” Adora said, calming down. “You’re still my best friend. And I will forgive you. But I can’t just yet. I need a bit of time.”

“Okay,” Glimmer turned to leave. “Thank you. I mean it. Thanks for being so understanding.”

Glimmer closed the door behind her and Adora collapsed on the bed, exhausted. She didn’t know how much later it was when Catra returned. Catra leaned into kiss her and she stopped her. “Can we just cuddle? After that conversation, I need to rest.”

“Sure,” Catra smiled softly and they settled in to sleep.

Adora felt Catra’s purr rumbling from her chest and she sighed happily, looking out the window at the stars dotting the nightscape.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The child abuse in this chapter, whilst not explicit, is far more detailed. You have been warned.
> 
> Do please give me feedback in the comments. It really helps me improve.

Adora woke with a start. She was shaking, the aftershocks of the nightmare wracking her body. She wiped away tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. When her heart had stopped pounding like a jackhammer, she realised the bed was empty. “Catra,” she called, uncertain.

“Out here,” came the reply.

She arrived on the balcony to find Catra lounging on the railing. She was watching a dozen or so stars blazing across the sky, leaving trails. “Beautiful,” Adora stated, leaning against the railing next to her.

“Entrapta said they’re called ‘Shooting Stars’, Catra explained. “Apparently, they’re really meteors – bits of rock and ice burning up in the atmosphere. There’s supposed to be a bunch of them falling tonight. A storm, even.”

“They are, but that’s not what I was talking about.”

Catra flicked her ears dismissively. “Cheesy.”

“You love it,” Adora knocked her shoulder into Catra’s playfully.

The moons hung in the sky gracefully, peacefully, keeping watch. After a few minutes, Adora spoke, “couldn’t sleep either, huh?”

Catra shook her head.

“Prime?” Adora guessed.

Catra shook her head again.

Adora said nothing, just sighed.

“What about you?” Catra asked. “I’m not the only one who still gets nightmares by the looks of it.”

“Mine was Shadow-Weaver too,” Adora responded.

Catra noticed the ‘too’. Of course she knew. Catra was a fool not to have expected her to. They did grow up together after all. It wouldn’t surprise her if her girlfriend knew exactly which memory had resurfaced while she slept. Hell, it wasn’t unlikely that Adora had had the exact same dream. Even now, awake and looking at this before unseen phenomenon, the nightmare played on repeat in her mind.

It was unremarkable in that the situation was common during their childhood – a tragic fact in of itself. Adora, being Adora, had decided to draw enemy fire to allow the others to finish the simulation. She had been ‘killed’ but the others had reached the end with the fastest time ever. Everyone except Shadow-Weaver and Catra had praised Adora for her lack of hesitation, quick thinking and brilliant strategy. Catra had been angry that Adora was so quick to sacrifice herself – and leave Catra alone. Shadow-Weaver had been furious that Adora had chosen to save Catra at all, completely neglecting the fact that she had also saved the rest of the squad. As punishment she had pumped thousands of volts of electricity through Catra’s body and forced Adora to watch. Her twisted thinking had reasoned that seeing Catra in such extreme pain would drive Adora away. It hadn’t worked. In fact, Adora had spent the next few weeks comforting Catra and ensuring she was okay during every free second. Catra, of course, claimed to hate it. Catra, of course, was secretly incredibly grateful, so accepted it readily. Adora, of course, neglected her own health, and safety, to do this.

Adora shuddered, clearly also reliving some terrible moment from their shared history. Catra reckoned that her view of the memory would be dominated by guilt. Guilt for events completely out of her control. “Hey, you wanna grab a midnight snack?”

“It’s not midnight,” Adora pointed out.

“Whatever; I want some milk.”

“You’re lactose intolerant,” Adora said, recalling a fact they had realised soon after Catra had moved into Bright Moon.

“Worth it.”

“Why not? Just don’t blame me when you shit a river,” Adora chuckled.

***

It felt odd being in the enormous kitchen with no one else there. It would still be several hours before the servants who had to be there the earliest would arrive. Catra went directly to the fridge, poured herself a glass of milk and downed it immediately. She poured another. She took more time to saver the second one, this time leaping on top of the counter and sitting with crossed legs.

Adora, on the other hand, went to the fruit.

“Of course you go straight for the healthy stuff,” Catra scoffed.

“Says you!” Adora retorted. “You’re drinking milk. That’s healthy as fuck.”

“As you said earlier, not for me.”

Adora couldn’t find a response to that and stuttered, causing Catra to start giggling.

“It’s not funny!” Adora exclaimed, beginning to laugh herself. Before long, both were nearly howling with laughter. Eventually, it subsided.

They locked gazes; Catra was smiling but Adora was surprised by the depth of the pain that her eyes held like unshed tears. Actually, those might be unshed tears. Wordlessly, Adora pulled her in to a tight embrace. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, her arms still wrapped around the Magicat’s slight frame.

“No.”

“If you ever want to…” Adora didn’t need to finish the sentence.

“I know. Thank you.”

Sometime later, they were still stood like that, and Micah entered. “Midnight snack?” he asked, noting the glass and fruit still on the counter.

“Maybe?” Adora replied, guiltily.

“It’s okay. I’m the same.” He opened the cabinet and retrieved a chocolate bar.

Adora disentangled herself. “I’m gonna head back to bed.”

Catra was unable to stop the purr that rumbled up from her chest at the kiss on the cheek that Adora left before she walked out of the room. It died quickly when she looked the King in the eyes. “I’m sorry. About Angella.” She was barely able to maintain eye contact as she spoke. “It was my fault. I used the machine, despite knowing what it would do.” She paused. “I killed her. I don’t think I can apologise enough. But still, I’m so sorry.”

His expression was kind. “I forgive you.”

Her tail stiffened in surprise. “How- How can you forgive me so easily? I don’t deserve it.”

“You never intended to end her life. That was her choice. Even if you knew what might happen if you used the machine, you couldn’t have known what Angella would do in advance. You sacrificed yourself to save my daughter. No matter how much I loved my wife and how much I miss her now, I can’t bring myself to hate someone who gave so much to protect our child.” 

“I’ve apologised to Glimmer more than once. All she says is that she forgives me and that it’s enough that I’m on the right side now. I don’t think she’s quite realised the role I played.” 

“She has. She knows that Angella made that choice, not you. She knows you’re not to blame.” He hugged Catra. “I am sorry for all you have been through and that you felt the need to lash out because of it. You’re safe now.”

She cried.

Even more exhausted, she climbed back into bed. Adora murmured something, clearly half asleep and pulled Catra closer. Catra smiled. If she had had any tears left, she would have cried again. She slowly drifted off to sleep. For the first time in a long while, she felt truly loved. Accepted. The anxiety that usually accompanied the feeling was gone.

She was home.


End file.
